WHILE underscoring the Government’s commitment to restoring the mangroves, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda says it won’t be an easy task.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday — the day designated as International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem — Samuda highlighted that the process of replanting mangroves can be challenging, given that the plants have a high mortality rate when they are put back into the natural environment.

“The work that has to be done on mangroves is going to take a lot longer because the very planting, and catching up suckers, and redistributing mangroves, they have a much higher mortality rate when they’re put back into the fields so that will take 10 to 20 years to hit that restoration target. But, this is why we have to preserve what we have and we have to work — especially when you can create areas where they naturally restore, it’s much faster to do that [than] when we try to do it from a lab,” he explained.

“The truth is, we’re very clear on what the issues are and we’re working around the clock to put in place the solutions. Mangroves are a lot harder to replant than regular trees so whereas the Government has hit approximately very close to half of its target of three million trees — which is why you have actually small increases in your secondary forest because these forests are, you know, catching on, becoming thick again etcetera, especially as you convert some non-used agricultural land back to forest — you’re seeing increases there,” he further added.

Mangroves are said to play a key role in protecting Jamaica against flood risks, storms, and possible tsunamis — risks which significantly increase if mangroves are lost.

According to the 2019 World Bank report, Forces of Nature: Coastal Resilience Benefits of Mangroves in Jamaica, more than 770 hectares of mangroves have been lost in Jamaica over the past two decades.

Samuda said this sort of loss has been mainly attributed to climate change, which includes rising sea levels that increase the salinity of the water in the mangrove’s root structure, solid waste, and poor management of sewage. Additionally, mangrove loss has come from issues of communities that are facing deep poverty, thus preying on the mangroves for charcoal and for firewood .

The said report, however, revealed that more than 70 per cent of these mangroves could be potentially restorable. Most of Jamaica’s restoration work is concentrated on the south coast of the island.

“The Government is working with Professor [Terrence] Forrester of UWI SODECO to repair and restore 3,800 hectares of mangroves in southern Clarendon, specifically in front of Jackson Bay into Rocky Point. It’s why we’re working with Forestry Department to do the assessments and to put in place the strategies for southern St Catherine — from Hellshire Heights going all the way down into Old Harbour Bay. It’s why we’re working with UWI marine biology lab in your need for restoration along the Palisadoes stretch, which is also a Ramsar site,” Samuda said, adding that the north coast is also being monitored.